We’re thrilled to welcome on board the California Democratic Party to the Yes on 37 team of endorsers. As we reported, the Democratic Resolutions Board voted nearly unanimously over the weekend to support the initiative to require labeling of genetically engineered foods.

Next up, we’ll be going all out for the Republican Party endorsement on August 12. Labeling genetically engineered foods is an issue that has huge support from Republicans; 89% of Republicans across the country support it, according to a recent Mellman poll.

Thanks to US Senators Barbara Boxer and Bernie Sanders for being tireless champions for our right to know what’s in our food, and for fighting to protect states’ rights to label genetically engineered food.

As Senator Sanders put it in this fantastic 15 minute video that is well worth watching, “I personally believe, and I think most Americans believe, that when a mother goes to the store and purchases food for her child, she has a right to know what she is feeding her child.”

In her rocking speech on the floor of the US Senate, conservative Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski explains why it’s important to know what we’re eating – and to know more in general about genetically engineered fish.

This November, Californians will vote on a question that affects all of us – do we have the right to know what’s in our food? A huge majority of people across the political spectrum are saying yes, we do; and they want to know specifically if their food has been genetically engineered in a lab.

“In a country seemingly dominated by partisan polarization on everything from the cause of hurricanes to the state of the economy, it’s hard to find issues, outside of motherhood and apple pie, that can muster over 90 percent support,” respected national pollster Mark Mellmanwrote in the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill.

In a recent survey, he found one. “Voters express almost unanimous support for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods,” Mellman wrote.

We All Have a Right to Know What’s in Our Food

Consumers have a right to know what’s in the food we eat and feed our children, including whether food is genetically engineered.

A genetically engineered (GE) food is a plant or meat product that has had its DNA artificially altered by genes from other plants, animals, viruses, or bacteria, to produce foreign compounds in that food. This type of genetic alteration is not found in nature. Today, as much as 85% of corn in the U.S. is genetically engineered. This corn is found in countless processed foods such as cereals, baby foods, breads, chips, and many other products. Currently, the majority of GE crops are designed for one purpose: to withstand greater amount of pesticides.